“You can only marry me.”…
Another four or five days passed. Under the persistent spring sunlight, the snow blocking the mountain path was finally completely cleared, reopening the way home.
At dawn, a pale yellow glow touched the mountain peak. Sparrows chirped noisily, and the gloomy, sorrowful clouds of winter had completely dissipated.
The Yu family sent someone up the mountain at the first opportunity after the path was cleared, cautiously inquiring about the third young lady who had been stranded in the mountains. They had already prepared for a funeral.
After all, the third young lady and her maid had been caught in an avalanche, buried along with their carriage. It was possible their bodies might never be found.
But to their surprise, Tian Qin had miraculously survived—unharmed and intact. She had been rescued by Xie Tanwei, though she injured her ankle and had been recuperating at the mountain temple for several days.
The servant wept with joy and immediately returned to deliver the news. Soon after, the Yu family’s warm and luxurious carriage hurriedly arrived to fetch Tian Qin.
Xie Tanwei escorted Tian Qin and her maid to the mountain pass, tightened her Dou Peng for her, and handed her the calligraphy they had practiced together over the past few days.
“It’s a good thing your family has come to fetch you. Don’t be afraid.”
Tian Qin, reserved and somewhat shy, lowered her head and nodded. The shadow of being abandoned during the crisis had not yet faded from her heart.
“Brother-in-law, aren’t you coming back with us?”
He shook his head. “The Late Spring Strategy Examination papers are complex, and I still have some loose ends to tie up. The mountains are quiet and conducive to work.”
Tian Qin replied obediently, “Very well. I’ll inform Second Sister when I return so she won’t miss you in vain.”
After days of being alone together, an indescribable change had occurred in their relationship. Many intimate gestures now seemed natural.
Xie Tanwei nodded and helped her into the carriage.
As the carriage started moving, Tian Qin leaned out the window, looking back. Xie Tanwei remained where he was, waving farewell.
Zhao Lu and Wan Cui exchanged knowing glances.
“Brother-in-law, goodbye—”
“Take care, Third Sister—”
His figure grew smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared.
…
At the Yu residence, everyone had been waiting for a long time.
Yu Yuan rushed out anxiously to greet her. Seeing Tian Qin safe and sound, he hugged her tightly, shedding a few tears and murmuring words of affection.
“My sweet child, thank heavens you’re safe! Otherwise, how could I face your late mother? I might as well have joined her!”
Tian Qin said, “I’ve been unfilial, worrying you, Father.”
Yu Ye glanced at Tian Qin, saw she was fine, and returned to his studies. Yu Yan, still shaken by the near loss of his sister at such a young age, clung to Tian Qin and refused to let go.
“Third Sister… wu wu… Third Sister…”
The scene was chaotic.
Ku Ju and Yao Yiniang had assumed Tian Qin would surely perish this time, and the coveted opportunity to become a noble concubine in the marquis’s household would inevitably fall to Ku Ju.
To their surprise, not only was Tian Qin unharmed, but she had also spent several days alone with her brother-in-law. Envy gnawed at them, and they couldn’t help but marvel at her luck.
He Shi instructed the nursemaid to take the crying Yan Ge’er away, saying, “Sweet Child has just returned. Let her have some warm tea first.”
Tian Qin held the warm tea, smiling gracefully, a hint of coyness in her eyes. Her smooth, sweet words and effortless composure made it seem as though she hadn’t just survived a life-threatening crisis but had merely returned from an excursion.
Xianqiu would normally have stepped forward to inquire after her well-being, but now, for some reason, she felt inexplicably despondent, as if a part of her heart had been hollowed out.
Tian Qin’s escape from death was entirely due to Xie Tanwei, who had pulled her out of the snow, provided her with medicine and food.
That in itself was nothing extraordinary. What stood out was that after being rescued, she hadn’t returned to the Yu family immediately. Instead, she had spent several days alone with him at the mountain temple.
Observing Tian Qin’s rosy and radiant cheeks, her affectionate glances resembling a young married woman, and her frequent boasting about Brother-in-law’s snowy rescue as conversation fodder, it was hard to say what had truly occurred.
The situation seemed to have subtly shifted.
Though Xianqiu had arranged for Tian Qin to enter Xie Manor as a concubine, she forbade Tian Qin from overstepping or making decisions beyond her authority as Zhumu.
The very reason Xianqiu had initially favored Tian Qin was her lack of interest in Brother-in-law and absence of ambition to compete for favor, making her unthreatening.
Otherwise, with Tian Qin’s sweet yet fox-like charm, her songstress-born biological mother, and her history of clandestine exchanges with private tutors—gathering numerous flaws in one—why would Xianqiu choose her over the honest and virtuous Ku Ju?
Xianqiu had been sending letters to her husband via carrier pigeons these past days without reply, only to discover he had been with Tian Qin all along.
An odd jealousy gnawed at her. She knew she shouldn’t resent Tian Qin, yet her heart felt strangely unsettled, as if Tian Qin had stolen something from her.
Even if she deceived herself, how could a lone man and woman spend days together in a mountain temple without incident?
…
Finally free from the Yu family’s scrutiny, Tian Qin quietly took Yan Ge’er’s hand and slipped toward the private school in the rear hall.
Having been warned by He Shi, she hadn’t visited the school for some time. Today’s risk was to meet someone.
After many days apart, Xu Junzheng had been waiting for her anxiously.
Upon seeing Tian Qin again, he blinked repeatedly, throat choked with emotion. The usually composed scholar became flustered, covering his face with his sleeve.
Tian Qin harbored deep feelings too, but with Yan Ge’er present and in broad daylight within the Yu residence, she couldn’t act improperly. Softly, she said, “Mr. Xu.”
Xu Junzheng was both overjoyed and sorrowful. “Third Young Miss.”
“I heard you encountered an avalanche in the mountains. I felt as if sliced by a thousand blades—these days I’ve eaten without tasting, grieving as if I’d never lived. That you’re safe… truly, it’s wonderful.”
A faint melancholy tinged Tian Qin’s lush cheeks. Setting aside pleasantries, she drew a scroll from her bosom—answers to questions that had long perplexed Xu Junzheng, transcribed from memory.
Xu Junzheng stared in shock and delight. “Where did these come from?”
Tian Qin replied, “I asked Brother-in-law. Take a look.”
His hands trembling violently, Xu Junzheng flipped through the pages, barely able to hold them steady. Overwhelmed, he nearly wept, each character seeming to shimmer with golden light. “Did Lord Xie himself say this?”
Tian Qin confirmed, “Yes.”
“My brother-in-law elaborated on much else—historical references, citations, counterexamples—but he spoke too swiftly for me to record it all. I hope you’ll understand.”
“No, no, how could ‘understanding’ be needed? What you’ve given me is priceless—a lifetime’s treasure. I’m eternally grateful.”
For the first time, Xu Junzheng’s courteous eyes sparkled with uncharacteristic recklessness and euphoria. He grew pale, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this gift.
Tian Qin thought to herself that since Xie Tanwei had spoken these words directly, it was as if he had answered the examination questions himself. If Xu Junzheng memorized the content, he would surely excel in the policy essays.
Once he achieved scholarly honors, her father would surely agree to swap her and Ku Ju’s marriages: she would wed Xu Junzheng as his humble but legitimate wife, while Ku Ju would marry into the Marquis Manor as their elder sister and brother-in-law’s noble concubine.
Xu Junzheng nearly danced with elation, the typically bashful scholar now chattering incessantly about the brilliance of the answers, the uniqueness of the insights, and Xie’s genuine erudition.
Naturally proud—after all, she had procured it—Tian Qin tugged his sleeve, a sly glint in her eyes. “Sir, don’t forget your promise to me. You’ll surely rank high this time, won’t you?”
Xu Junzheng gradually calmed down, gazing at the lovely, capable Tian Qin with immense satisfaction in his heart.
The woman who haunted his midnight dreams stood before him, so close he could almost touch her—closer than ever before.
Yet this joy was tinged with sorrow. A few days prior, the Yu family patriarch had privately approached him, intending to betroth Fourth Miss Ku Ju to him.
The Yu family offered the bitter maiden, not the sweet one.
To refuse would surely offend the Yu family; yet to accept would mean lifelong regret—marrying the bitter maiden while losing the sweet one he truly loved.
Academic pressures and marital anguish left him sleepless, tossing through the night until a strand of hair turned white.
Seeing Xu Junzheng’s conflicted expression and wavering demeanor, Tian Qin felt as if struck by lightning. Stamping her foot, she made to leave in tears.
Xu Junzheng hurried after her, blocking her path and nearly dropping to his knees. “Third Miss, please stay! How could I ever betray you?”
Tian Qin, feigning vulnerability while pressing her advantage, challenged him sharply: “Has Father’s proposal for you to marry Ku Ju won your heart instead? What then of all those tender words you once spoke to me? I’ll leave now—we need not meet again.”
“You misunderstand me, Miss!”
Though Xu Junzheng repeatedly vowed never to wed Ku Ju, Tian Qin remained relentless, demanding he swear a blood oath.
After all, she had risked everything to steal the examination answers for him—staking her entire future. He could marry no one but her.
Only when forced to swear a terrible oath—invoking his entire family’s ruin if he ever married Ku Ju—did Tian Qin’s anger melt into delight.
“Remember—you may wed only me. Do not betray me, or I will never forgive you.”
Xu Junzheng was the single silken thread that could pull her from the abyss. She would cling to it, whatever the cost.
…
Dusk fell. The sky, cleansed by snow, shone like polished glass. The air was crisp and damp, painted with magnificent violet-and-amber twilight.
Tian Qin, Zhao Lu, and others had moved chairs into their courtyard to admire the view. Chen Momo chattered nearby while sorting vegetables, their laughter weaving a warm, harmonious atmosphere.
After supper, Tian Qin read briefly before preparing for bed. Suddenly, Ju Xiang—a maid from Ku Ju’s courtyard—rushed in weeping. “Third Miss, the master sent me to beg you to check on my lady. She’s been crying nonstop, and no one can console her…”
Ku Ju?
Both Tian Qin and her maid were startled.
In the courtyard, Yu Yuan was already present.
It turned out Yu Yuan, impressed by their private tutor Xu Junzheng’s talents and seeing him as a rising star, wished to betroth Ku Ju to him.
But Ku Ju and her mother, Yao Yiniang, aspired to climb higher and stubbornly refused.
When Tian Qin drifted over in her lotus-root-hued skirt, Yao Yiniang’s resentment flared. “Master, this is unjust! Both are children of concubines—why should Tian Qin become a nobleman’s cherished concubine while our Ku Ju is thrown to a poor scholar? Is it truly written in their names—‘Sweet’ and ‘Bitter’? All these years I’ve served you, if not with merit, at least with hardship!”
Ku Ju wept harder, her eyes rabbit-red, shrinking fearfully into Yao Yiniang’s embrace as if bearing some grievous wrong.
Yu Yuan thundered, “Enough! Must you make such a scene? Marriage has always been decided by parents and matchmakers. The Zhumu and I have yet to speak, yet you clamor incessantly. What is wrong with Tutor Xu? One more unreasonable outburst, and I’ll lock you both away!”
Yao Yiniang sobbed pitifully, Ku Ju turned ashen, and Yu Yuan’s scolding raged on.
Tian Qin stood speechless.
In such a scene, any consolation would ring hollow as performance.
Xianqiu and He Shi hurried over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing the scene so tranquil, Xianqiu’s displeasure was nearly written all over her delicate face—these sisters, one after another, all had their eyes on her husband.
He Shi, however, subtly squeezed Xianqiu’s hand. Ku Ju was just as well; being dull and slow-witted, she would be easier to control than Tian Qin. As for the choice of a concubine, it still required careful consideration. Perhaps Ku Ju was the better option?
Author’s Note: